


the fourth of july

by ghibliterritory



Category: Heathers (1988)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, chandean - Freeform, heather requesting a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 11:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20045080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghibliterritory/pseuds/ghibliterritory
Summary: A night in starts simple, and ends... well, you'll just have to read and see.





	the fourth of july

Thinking back on it now, Heather Chandler couldn’t say that she had ever spent the Fourth of July alone before now.

A majority of the time, she’d been hanging out with her family, in the back yards of rich friends of her father’s and with her cousins. In junior high and high school she spent it with friends at their houses, with parties and sleepovers and, later on, alcohol. And to be honest, she couldn’t tell you why she was alone this year. Her family was back in rich back yards, her friends were having their parties, and she figured she should have gone. But, Heather had been doing a strange amount of thinking about her life. High school was almost over, she was a bitch, and for what?

It was strange. Heather didn’t like to think about how strange it was, or just how scary it was becoming to think about, and to shake it off her back, she got sucked into a movie she’d rented. And then, to pass the time, another. And another.

The only time she left the house was to get more movies and some snacks.

This was her fifth movie of the night.  _ House on Haunted Hill _ . It looked creepy enough on the cover- woman with a noose, skeleton, the classic creeps. So far, though, it was not reaching her expectations.

_ “Annabelle, you’re missing all the fun.” _ Vincent Price spoke smoothly on the screen, a wicked grin giving more scares than the whole movie had until then. _ “Nora Manning was almost killed by a falling chandelier, the pilot bashed his head in-” _

_ “Is he badly hurt?” _

_ “The psychiatrist and I bandaged him up. Don’t you want to go and console him, as you do most men? In your fashion?” _

_ “You’re so clever, Frederick.” _

_ “As I lay awake nights wondering why I married you. Was rather a mistake.” _

_ “You didn’t marry me, dear, I married you. Unpleasant, but no mistake-” _

“For fuck’s sake, get  _ on with it _ , please!” Heather Chandler screamed at her TV, throwing kettle corn at the black and white screen. This was frustrating. She was half an hour into this stupid movie and  _ nothing was happening.  _ All the talk and slow paced actions were frankly starting to bore the snot out of her. Where was the blood? The sticky, disgusting gore? All the movies she was a fan of had buckets of bright red goo oozing all over the floor by now. She shoved another small handful of kettle corn into her mouth, and started to wonder when any action would build up.

She thought she heard something in the background, a thud or a scuffle, but she didn’t think much about it.

In the movie, things were still slow. Characters walking and talking- the young girl, Nora, was just told to go downstairs. Heather rolled her eyes. That ‘young’ girl was probably the stupidest part. She was whiney, so far. But she watched the screen intensely. She walked to the bed. Kettle corn crunched. She opened her suitcase. Heather started to go for another handful-

A hand grabbed onto her delicate wrist just when the girl in the movie screamed, making Heather scream herself. Before she even thought about it, she threw a punch in the air, twisting behind her and yelling when she actually collided with something in the dark. Her wrist was let go, and she shot up off the couch. In the shadow, a figure was hunched over, coughing and groaning.

“Jesus Christ, Heather, I forgot how fuckin’ hard you punch.” The voice was raspy, but still recognizable, and it made her scowl. But, it also made her heart stop beating so fast. “What the  _ fuck _ , JD, what are you doing here?” She nearly growled, reaching towards a lamp to light up the room. Jason stood slowly, holding his stomach where she hit while she paused the movie. His smile was nearly as wicked at Vincent Price’s, but it was only the tiniest bit softer. Only ever for her. “God you’re real fun when you’re scared. Do you see the way your eyes get wider than dinner plates?”

“ _ What _ are you  _ doing here _ , JD?” Heather asked again. His smile barely faltered. “What, can’t I come hang out with my favorite partner in crime?” He asked, walking slowly up to her. She thought he was gonna go in for a kiss or something- instead, he snatched the kettle corn off the couch. “I snuck in through the window. Figured I’d see if you were home, instead of at Duke’s ‘fantastic fiesta of the fourth’, and we could cause some mayhem.” He paused, and held back a snicker at the ideas running around in his head. “Terrorize the suburbs.”

Heather grabbed the kettle corn away from him and set it down. “Can’t you use the front door like a regular person?” She asked. Jason finally frowned, taking a piece of kettle corn anyway. “Where’s the fun in that?” He flicked some of the crumbs at her, and she groaned. “The fun is in not falling to your death or something. But, knowing you, that’s where all the fun is.”

At that, his smile returned, and he suddenly tugged her closer by her waist. “Correct, Cherry, the fun’s in the scare.”

“Only for you.” Heather grumbled, but she couldn’t help but smile a bit at seeing him. It was hardly noticeable, though. “So, what kind of mayhem were you thinking tonight? Convenient store raids, destruction of property?”

Jason shrugged, moving his hands over her to grab her hips. It was almost instinctive for her to wrap her arms around his neck. “Not sure. I personally believe, like my father, that a couple sticks of dynamite is the best way to have some  _ real _ fun, but I’d hate for you to break a nail or mess up your hair doing that.” He teased, carefully taking a lock of her hair to twirl around his finger. She hummed softly, trying to think. “Well, are you in the mood to really go out and do it?” She wondered aloud, making his brow raise. “You have a better idea?”

She wouldn’t call it a ‘better’ idea, but she liked it more. “Why don’t we…. Get on your bike, run to the Snappy Snack Shack, get jugs full of disgusting Coke flavored slush and aluminum foil bound snacks, then… come back here. Stay in. Maybe we can grab some more movies for the night.”

For a second, Jason blinked at her, trying to read her expression. Heather figured it looked unsure. Maybe anxious. She wished she could tell to try and keep it hidden. After a moment, he hummed and let her hair go, replacing it with her hip again. “Normally, I’d love to go and fill my stomach with chemicals and my brain with rot, but I gotta ask- why? It’s the Fourth, the holiday Americans have to scream the National Anthem at each other and binge on burgers and beer. You staying in on a night like that feels like it shouldn’t be real. Are you okay?”

Heather felt her brain pause on that. Are you okay?

“Yeah.” She said, moving her hands to his shoulders. “I just don’t want to go out. I’ve seen it all by now, the drinks and the grills and the red white and blue. I’m sick of it.”

“Well, well, well, am I finally dragging you away from your rich girl mentality?” Jason teased, gently tickling her sides a bit and making her yelp, squirming a little to escape his fingers. “Don’t push it, Romeo, I just don’t want to get deja vu, I’d be sick.” She replied. “Besides, I’ve seen  _ your _ chaotic routine just as often, that’ll make it worse.”

There was something else, something big about it that she wanted to say, but her throat closed. It was nothing anyway.

Jason smiled at her- really smiled- and pulled her ever closer, practically pressing her into his torso. “I guess I can’t be too terribly opposed to a night in with you. So long as you have good movies and alcohol.”

“Always.” Heather said before pulling away from him, turning the TV off finally. For now. “I suggested slushies for a reason. And, I only got a couple left from my haul earlier. And if this is gonna go all night, we’ll need tons more.”

“You’re buying, Barbie?” He asked, before she smacked him on the shoulder. “Right, of course you are.”

Heather scrunched her nose up. “You’re an asshole.” She said to him, taking his hand in hers. Jason smiled and laced their fingers together. “You’re a brat.”

With her red lipped grin, she pulled him out of the house and into the night, hopping onto his motorcycle. The wind whipped her hair around all the way to the Snappy Snack Shack. She swore she heard fireworks, but she never opened her eyes to look.

The only fireworks she needed were the ones going off in her chest.


End file.
